The present invention relates to a loading device for sequential feeding of bars into a lathe, e.g. the numerical control type.
In the field of automatic lathes the problem of sequentially feeding the bars to be machined is well known. Indeed, it is usually necessary to respect relatively short loading and unloading times while at the same time avoiding bar positioning errors and jamming of the machine. This is particularly problematical when the bars to be supplied are relatively heavy because of the inertia of the settling movements that the bars make. For example, in known loaders the bars are often made to run on a moving inclined plane at the end of which is an axial sliding guide for the bar toward the machine tool. The bar running on the inclined plane thus falls into the guide. Especially in the case of relatively heavy bars the lateral velocity of the bar in falling on the guide is such as to make likely jumping over the guide and consequently jamming of the loader. It is also likely that a relatively heavy bar in falling into the guide would cause vibrations and shocks which could damage the structure.